Senators from both sides of the aisle called for an independent investigation into Michael Flynn after he resigned from his post as President Donald Trump's national security advisor on Monday night. (Published Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017)

U.S. agencies intercepted phone calls last year between Russian intelligence officials and members of Donald Trump's 2016 campaign team, conversations a Kremlin spokesman has denied, according to The New York Times.

The Times reported that the Russians made contact with Paul Manafort, who briefly served as Trump's campaign chairman. In late August, Manafort resigned from that job after disclosures by The Associated Press about his firm's covert lobbying on behalf of Ukraine's former pro-Russia governing party.

Speaking to reporters in Moscow, Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for President Vladimir Putin, denied the reports of intercepted phone calls between Russian intelligence officials and members of Trump's presidential campaign and pointed to the anonymity of the sources, saying that the reports "are not based on any facts, do not point to actual facts."

Hillary Clinton officials responded to the allegations on Tuesday, calling it a "colossal scandal." Brian Fallon, press secretary for the Clinton campaign, wrote on Twitter: "Everything we suspected during the campaign is proving true. This is a colossal scandal."

Robby Mook, Clinton's campaign manager, wrote on Twitter: "I'd like the FBI to explain why they sent a letter about Clinton but not this."